The small lamp on Rickey’s study table cast a warm golden light over his small table, a huge contrast to the darkness that plagued the landscape outside.

The soft patter of rain drops against his window provided a soothing backdrop as he stared at the night, different thoughts racing through his mind.

He couldn’t tell why he could not take Maya off his mind. Maybe it was because she went through the mission better than any of the men he had hoped to send. Maybe I was because of the offer that she had given him. Or maybe it was something else… Sighing.

Rickey shoved his hands into his pocket in his jacket and pulled out a folded paper. Carefully, he opened it, revealing that I was a picture-the one given to him by Maya.

He gazed at the woman in the photograph and his brows furrowed into a light frown. She had eyes that were like Maya’s-cold yet hinted with something deeper.

A faint smile was etched on her face but yet seemed to hold something much more… pain? Exactly like Mayas. Grunting, Rickey lifted the photograph to eye-level as he leaned back against his chair.

His thumb traced the edge of the picture as more thoughts raced through his mind. Suddenly, the door to his study creaked open, pushing him out of his thoughts.

He lifted his head up to see Maya walk in. Her shoulders were squared and her lips pursed. She still had on the dress she had worn house earlier but had exchange the heeled boots for something different-a pair of crocs.

She held in her hand a glass of what looked to be whiskey. The sigh of it reminded Rickey just how badly he needed one.

“You still haven't told me anything, Rickey,” she said as she grabbed a bar stool from one of Rickeys other desks and slowly dragged it to where he sat.

“You're still yet to give me a response." Rickey was about saying something when she suddenly spun the chair and dropped it in front of him before plopping down on it. Taken aback by the sudden move, Rickey folded the photograph and smiled.

“You're bold, Maya,” he said as he interlocked his fingers and crossed his legs."But that character is one that could cost you so much in this house.”

“And I have learnt that obedience has the same effect,” Maya replied curtly before taking a small sip from the glass in her hands.

“You want me to stay and train another to take my place and I have decided not to argue that. But you have another problem that requires my skill–fishing out the traitor.”

She took a small pause, watching as the expression on Rickeys face changed from a light frown to one of amusement.

“You help me find my mother and I stay, train a second and also help you fish out the person betraying you." Rickey stared at her for some moments as the corners of his mouth began twisting to a reluctant smile.

“And which are you after, Maya? Justice?..." he paused as he leaned forward, tilting his head to the side, “... or revenge?”

“Who says there's no having both?" Maya said, cocking a brow as she took another go at her drink, this time gulping it all down.

"Do we have a deal, Rickey?” A long silence filled the room and Maya could sense the tension that had hung in the air, thick as a veil. After what felt like forever to Maya, Rickey grinned before emitting a soft, dey laugh. Shrugging, he grabbed the empty glass from Maya and dropped it on his desk.

“Show me that you're going to be worth it,” he muttered as he traced the lid of the glass with his finger.

"You start tonight. Do your findings or whatever it is you plan on doing. When you come up with something useful, come meet me and we'll talk.”

Maya wanted to argue, to tell him that she deserved his help, but then decided against it. At least he didn't give her a no.

“Okay," Maya muttered as she grabbed the empty glass from his desk and stood from the stool.

“I bring you something and you accept my offer." Without giving Rickey the chance to say something, she turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. Just as she walked out, Maya found Simeon walking towards her, his hands in pockets.

They were about walking past each other when her eyes caught something hanging from his belt.

“Simeon," Maya called just as he walked past her.

“Yeah–” Simeon turned to answer, only to see an empty glass hurled his way.

“Go keep that," Maya muttered as he caught it. “You know how feisty Rickey can be if he didn't have his things in order."

“Huh?" Simeon muttered, confusion etched in his voice as his eyes darted between the wet glass in his hands and retreating Maya. Muttering a curse word under his breath, he turned and continued his walk down the hallway.

Maya waited until he had finally gone around a corner before shoving her hands out of the ruffle of her dress, revealing a strap holding different keys.

She had sighted it on him just as he was passing by and knew it to hold one that opened the server room. Using the glass as a distraction, she skillfully grabbed the keys from him without his knowledge, a skill she had learnt from her stay in this godforsaken place. Putting the bunch back into the folds of her dress, Maya turned and began making her way towards the server room, trying hee best not to act suspicious.

After many turns, she finally reached the room and quickly began inserting different keys into the lock.

“Come on, come on," she muttered under her breath as she tried all the keys. Her eyes darted to the right as she suddenly heard footsteps and voices heading her way.

After her fourth try, the door finally opened with a soft click. Not bothering to waste any more time celebrating, Maya grabbed the doorknob and twisted it before slipping in right on time for one of Rickey's men to burst into the main hallway from a small corridor.

Inside, the room was clothed in darkness and filled with gentle whirs from the servers. Placing her hand on the wall behind her, Maya felt around before finally touching a cold plastic. Her hand pressed the button on it and soft blue light lit the room with an unearthly glow.

Taking in a deep breath, she locked the door and walked towards one of the monitors. Without any hesitation, she turned on the sever and immediately began typing across the keyboard. ‘Password needed,’ a cold robotic voice suddenly said.

Maya made to to type in but then changed her mind. If she logged in like this, whoever tried to frame her would easily find that she came in here. Her fingers danced around the keyboard as she took another approach. ‘Access Denied.’

She crunched up her face as she bit down on her lower lip. “That didn't work?" she muttered before typing again.

"Let's try that again." ‘Access Granted.’ A relieving sigh slipped from her lips as the home screen to all the files began loading up. As it finished, she began scrolling through all the files hastily, her heart pounding faster as her eyes scanned the dates tagged to each of them.

After what felt like hours of scrolling, she finally found what she was looking for—security footage of the night she was accused of intervening. She tapped on the footage. Her breath caught.

There she was, on the screen, walking down the corridor, harmless. But a different figure appeared. They had wide shoulders and had a hood on. The figure slipped into the room and bent over one of the panels, cut the wires, fiddled with the feeds.

Maya's eyes dropped to the ground as the figure finished with their job and slipped back out of the room. She had been set up.

Maya scowled at the screen, fury building like a seething fire within her heart. She needed to give this to Rickey.

Her eyes scanned the room until she found a jar filled with empty flash drives. Grabbing one, she quickly inserted it into a slot on the server and quickly downloaded the video before jamming it into her pocket.